ccjohnso (2022-2023)

chamber choir
gay/straight alliance
got some awards and stuff at graduation
paralegal @ Manhattan DA
red hair

[decision date = when the letter was dated]

Cornell Deferral - the typical small white envelope, rec'd 12/19.

BU Acceptance (woot!) - big white envelope, rec'd (@ parent's house--fortunately i was home for xmas!) 12/27. Contains acceptance letter w/ handwritten note from dean, plus info on the school and on financial aid and scholarships .

NYU and Penn deferrals - each in a small white envelope. Both were waiting for me when I returned from xmas at the rents' on 12/30. I'm actually pumped about these deferrals because, based on my iffy lsat, either school could have easily rejected me outright!

Northwestern Waitlisting - After an agonizing hour and a half between the time I received an email from Northwestern and the time the online status check acknowledged that a decision had been reached, I was left with nothing more than a letter indicating the adcom's indecision...(sigh) at least no one's saying "no" to my face yet...

Michigan Deferral - Email saying that they hadn't reached a decision yet, but thanks anyway for applying way back in October. Not an "official" deferral, but since everyone else is doing it to me, I might as well add Michigan to the list.

Columbia Waitlist - Small beige envelope (but with multiple sheets of paper inside, so it didn't look like a rejection) rec'd 1/28. They claim they're not waitlisting me, but rather putting me "on reserve" ...Because there's really a difference...

Received a 2-page letter on 2/27 announcing BU Scholarship of $20,000/yr. :-) At least one school knows how to show me some love!

Michigin Waitlist - received email on 3/3 in the morning. I would be frustrated, but Dean Zearfoss is SO DAMN NICE!!! They might be ambivalent about my application, but Michigan has one quality admissions office. [update: dammit! everyone and their mother got waitlisted -- so much for feeling special!]

Berkeley rejection- called admissions office on 3/7 to ask if I should send a letter of continuing interest. Instead, the dude offered to tell me my decision over the phone, and it was, of course, a rejection. It totally sucks that my first rejection is the school that allegedly places more value on all of my strongest factors than any other school, but oh well -- c'est la vie, right? [update: received the thanks-but-no-thanks letter (dated 3/6) on 3/8. nice, gentle, articulate; i'm still bitter, but mostly just on principle]

Penn Waitlist - email dated 3/30/06. It came while I was in Boston for BU's admitted student's day. I guess it's better than a rejectio;. obviously, I'll stay on the waitlist. btw, the BU visit made me feel really good about going there if none of these other schools work out...

Cornell "Reserve" - rec'd letter 4/10/06. Technically this is more of a deferal than a waitlist -- apparently, they do the real waitlist at the end of May -- but I was already deferred, so I need to call it a waitlist in order to convince myself that I'm making some sort of progress...

Sent in 1st seat deposit for BU on 4/11. Hopefully I'll find some more closure on this whole process before the 6/1 deadline for deposit number 2...

NYU Waitlist - rec'd 4/14. So how cruel is this: the letter came in a BIG manila envelope. Having already received numerous smaller waitlist notifications, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of hope due to it's size. Oh well. I'm actually pumped -- I thought I'd be rejected for sure. Maybe it helps that I have some ties to the Manhattan legal scene...

UCLA Acceptance - OMG! Rec'd email 4/17 at 1:17 EST telling me I'm admitted. Took a break from super-busy workday to freak out for a minute. Got home to find a huge envelope full of stuff, plus a smaller envelope, and then another email (nicely done with the timing, UCLA!). I'm really psyched about this, especially since, from what I can tell, UCLA has the most extensive Sexual Orientation Law program of any law school (and this is my anticipated career path...). btw, I sent an unsolicited letter of continuing interest a couple weeks ago, which may have played a part in my acceptance (the timing seems about right). In sum, WOOT!

Stanford Pendingness - Called Stanford 4/19, because I was beginning to have a sinking feeling that they had sent out a rejection months ago and it was just lost in the mail or something. Turns out my app's still pending, but the nice lady on the phone told me that they would definitely make a decision by 4/30.

UCLA finaid email rec'd 4/20 with a dismal grant offer of $1,530 per year. Ouch! ...And BU is back in the running.

Stanford Waitlist - rec'd small, but thick, windowed envelope on 5/1 (nearly seven months after I submitted my app...). I'm super-pumped to be on this waitlist! Even if my chances of actually going to Stanford are still pretty low, I feel like this indicates that I have a strong app, and could maybe get off another waitlist or two (I certainly have plenty to choose from!). And yes, I'll stay on this waitlist till the very end, cuz I REALLY want to go to Stanford! :-P

6/6/06 - Visited LA this weekend and liked what I saw, so I withdrew from BU and semi-committed to UCLA. Still hoping for more $ though...in the meantime, I'll stay on my bouquet of waitlists and see what happens.

Columbia Rejection - small, off-white envelope rec'd 6/6. it's not like i ever had a chance, but i'm still kinda bummed.

Michigan Rejection - small white envelope rec'd 6/15 with curteous but curt letter informing me that it was now "clear" that they could not admit me. Disappointing, but it also makes it easier for me to start getting excited about UCLA.

Also rec'd email from Northwestern on 6/15 offering me a place on the "shortened summer waitlist." Dunno if I'll stay on or not, gotta think about it...

6/17: Declined a place on Northwestern's "ssw" -- no finaid grants, no certainty, no thanks.

NYU rejection - small, white windowed envelope rec'd 6/23 (p.m. 6/20, dated 6/15...wtf?). Just like Columbia's: knew it was coming but thought I could have lasted a bit longer. Now I'm officially leaving NYC :-(

6/27: Re-waitlisted at Cornell and Penn (this is the third time that each of these schools have told me that I'm highly qualifed but they don't [yet] have space for me). Better than rejections, right? I'll stay on both as I contemplate the impending reality of leaving the Northeast for the first time ever...

8/7/06: Finally rejected by Stanford, via a short but very nice letter that came in a small envelope. Also withdrew from Cornell's waitlist today. Got my class schedule from UCLA tonight...starting to get excited.